Puppy Chow

Nathan Ware of the PI DawgBlawg has a new feature that he is collaborating with me on that will appear on Tuesdays in the PI called Backtalk. We ask each other questions concerning the previous game, or whatever is on our minds. We think it is going to be a lot of fun to do as we get used to each others writing styles so we can work together more in the future here, and over there.

Today, I'm rolling out a new column that I hope becomes a weekly fixture, particularly during football season. Fellow UW blogger John Berkowitz, who runs a UW blog on blogspot.com, will join me for a column called "Backtalk". John and I will rehash post-game topics and anything else that catches our attention. I love this column because it's just a raw conversation between two die-hard UW fans.

The Arizona State game on Oct. 13 was selected Monday for telecast by FSN and will kick off at 7:15 p.m. That means there is a chance all 13 UW regular-season games this season could be televised — UW has never had every game on television in a season, according to a school spokesman. The Oregon game the following week will also be on TV, and will likely at either 12:30, or 4 depending on which network picks the game up. I will be attending both of those games in person. they will be the first Husky games this year I have seen away from the tube.

CB Jordan Murchison is back practicing with the club which means because of the bye week he will have a decent chance to see some playing time against ASU if he has kept himself in shape. Being in game shape, and being in shape are two different things, not to mention being mentally repaired to play, so we will see how it goes. One thing is for sure, the bye week will help him. Jordan still has one more year of eligibility if the coaches decide to grant it.

Willingham said the bye week would be used for some significant scrimmaging among the team's young players, providing them a chance to impress coaches and maybe earn playing time. Positions where he said those players could break through are tailback and the secondary. Look for the Huskies to work quite a bit on tackling.

UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said a goal during the bye week will be to work on Locker's accuracy. He again had some big throws sail on him, including one to a wide-open Corey Williams in the end zone when he had scrambled, which helped draw the cornerback away from Williams.

S Jason Wells is going to be out for awhile with a knee injury. No exact word on the severity, or whether it will need surgery, but hopefully it is just a sprain. Wells has been seen around campus on crutches not putting any weight on the injured limb.

Pete Carroll is an interesting character. He says he is going to have the Pac Ten conference take another look at some of the calls that were made Saturday night including the late hit on Jake Locker which he felt was a in bounds. If you look at the film Locker is clearly 2-3 yards out of bounds and the whistle had already been blown a couple seconds before. Willingham wants the conference to take a look at the game too, and welcomes any inquiry concerning that late hit.

My opinion on the late hit is simple, it was an assassination attempt on Jake Locker ordered by Pete Carroll, and the USC coaches. The player who did it should have been ejected, and suspended, while the coaches should be publicly censured. Late hits happen, that is why there are personal fouls, and most are unintentional, but when you deliberately try to injure another player while he is out of bounds there should be serious repercussions for that player, and his coaches.

Ty Willingham said on his KJR radio show that the school was working on an updated logo. Most fans dislike the current one even though it has proven to be a top seller because it reminds them of the Neuheisel era. Another comment about the current logo is it looks more like a Weasel than a Husky. I try not to buy anything with the Weasel logo, or anything manufactured by Nike.